According to the author Robert Graves, Xuthus' name came from the ancient Greek word strouthos, meaning "sparrow".
[1] Xuthus was a son of King Hellen of Thessaly and the nymph Orseis; and brother of Dorus, Aeolus, Xenopatra[2] and probably Neonus.
[5] The Oracle at Delphi tells the couple that Ion is Xuthus' son and that Creusa's family should adopt him as Athenian.
It is at this point the Creusa finds the crib that young Ion slept in and realizes she is his mother.
[8] According to the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women on the origin of the Greeks, Hellen's three sons Dorus, Xuthus (with his sons Ion and Achaeus) and Aeolus, comprised the set of progenitors of the major ancient tribes that formed the Greek nation.